Gall Force - Intervention (ReMix)
by RocketManLen
Summary: As the War between the Solnoid and Paranoid races continues, it was only a matter of time before they encountered another race. But will this race help end the War? (ReWrite of "Gall Force - Intervention")
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Deep within one spiral arm of a small galaxy that would one day be referred to by some as the Milky Way, a millennia-long conflict continued to rage. Its reason had been lost to the depths of time long ago, so nobody really knew what it was they were fighting for – all they knew was that their side HAD to win, at all costs. The battles that resulted from this attitude were bloody and brutal, usually ending only when one group had been completely wiped out.

But this story is not about that.

In the midst of the carnage, advances were made. The first development was faster-than-light travel – while neither side would admit that it had been developed independently, each was quick to accuse the other of espionage in order to justify their continued hostility.

One side learned how to rapidly transform planets from barren rocks into habitable worlds, and the technology was quickly copied. Under any other circumstances, this would have been cause to end the conflict – but the each side sought to deny potential colonies from the other, the fear of being overwhelmed their only motivation.

But this story is not about that.

Time progressed, and the battles intensified. It wasn't long before all other pursuits were abandoned, as the demand for resources to continue fighting overshadowed all other considerations. Planets that would, in earlier eras, have been thought of as potential colonies were turned into blackened cinders as they were either stripped of resources to build ships and weapons or obliterated to prevent the enemy from doing the same. Both sides eventually developed the means to destroy planets from a distance – and soon after, a weapon was created that could cause a star to explode and vaporize any planet that could be thought of as useful.

Thus is was that a battle for survival turned into a war of spite, as both sides annihilated star systems by the dozens – not for any tactical advantage, but simply to ensure that the other could not possess it.

But this story is not about that.

It would come to pass that the leaders of both sides, in their obsessive quest for victory, sought to stage a final battle that would lay waste to both civilizations – ensuring that whatever advances they made would be lost to the fog of time... forever.

But this story is not about that, either.

Before that happened - a few on each side came to see that the war was not something that could be won, and took steps to create a third race that would ensure that something of themselves would survive. One such experiment would result in a new race of people who would settle and grow on a planet known as Terra.

But this story is not about them.

Because, it turned out, both sets of combatants were unaware of another race that already existed – a race that had remained outside of the conflict that raged on relentlessly around them. A race that would not want to be involved in the conflict, even if they had been aware of it. A race that would find itself involved, whether it wanted to be or not.

This story is about them...

Or, at least, **one** of them.


	2. Attack

**Attack**

To the casual observer, the star system was a modest one – a single yellow star, slightly cooler than what was considered to be 'typical', around which circled seven planets. Of those planets, two were within the region that would make long-term habitation possible.

As such, it quickly became a target for the War.

Two immense fleets materialized in the space near one of the potentially-habitable planets, each one intent on laying claim to the entire system, and grimly determined to prevent the other from doing the same. Missiles flew between the fleets, and single-pilot craft wove complex patterns in the void - picking off ships one at a time as the commanders of each fleet fought to buy time so that their engines of cosmic destruction could be brought to bear.

One way or another, this system would not be allowed to fall into the hands of their enemies.

But nobody stopped to ask the inhabitants of the system what **they** thought about it...

* * *

Marcus winced as he spotted a fireball erupting nearby – realizing that a missile volley had found its target and turned another of his friends into incandescent vapour. He could spare no time for grief, since there was also a group of missiles relentlessly gaining on **him**. He sent his ship into a series of rolls and loops in a desperate attempt to evade the lethal javelins, the high-pitched whine warning him that he was pushing the ship's drive beyond what it could safely maintain. His efforts failed to provide the results he hoped for, as the missiles maintained their lock on him and continued to slowly close the gap.

A tingle in his head let him know that the ship's computer had new information for him, as the image of a nearby asteroid appeared before his console. He took a moment to absorb the information that was being projected in front of him, noticing a great deal of rugged terrain and sharp peaks. _Yes, that will do nicely_ – he thought. His eyelids fluttered for a moment as he visualized what he wanted the ship to do, the NeuriLink device in his brain transmitting what he imagined directly to the computer. Faster than thought, the ship angled downwards and shot towards the asteroid in a dive that would either save or kill him.

As the asteroid loomed large in his forward window, Marcus pictured the ship skimming over the surface and threading through the crevasses that rose from a horizon that could have been disastrously close. When his computer signalled that all of the pursuing missiles had struck the asteroid and detonated, he carefully guided his ship away from the rocky body and eased the stress on his engines by lowering his acceleration to a reasonable level. With the immediate danger dealt with, he had time to think...

A blinking light on his console alerted him that a transmission intended for him was being received. He focused on the light, and the image of the asteroid was replaced with the face of a young woman with straight black hair and sparkling blue eyes. Her face brightened when she saw him, but not before Marcus saw the worry that her smile masked. "Hi, Steph," he said, greeting her as nonchalantly as he could, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"Marcus," she sighed, "I'm glad that you're safe!"

"Not safe," Marcus admitted, "but not in peril for the moment. The invaders seem to be focusing on each other for the time being – I guess they only shot at my convoy because we were too close to their Jump-in point."

"That's going to make evacuation impossible," Steph admitted, "they're too close to our main installation – any ships we launch will be shot at."

"What do they want, anyway?" Marcus wondered aloud. "Have there been any attempts to make contact? To let them know that we're here?"

"Tried, and failed," Steph said, as her dark bangs covered her eyes for a moment. "None of our hails have been answered. It seems as though none of them are even interested in talking. It's crazy."

 _Crazy indeed_ , Marcus thought, _but somehow familiar_. His eyes widened as the pieces of the puzzle fit together in his mind. "Do you remember the distress calls we were told about a few days ago? Three different systems, all attacked in a similar fashion. This has GOT to be them!"

"You can't know that, Marcus. The messages were so garbled that we could barely understand them!"

"But the pattern fits! Two unknown fleets jump in and just start firing at each other – no communication, no warning, and no..." His voice trailed off as he recalled the end of the messages.

 _No follow-up contact. No survivors._

Steph's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes growing wide with both understanding and fear. "You don't think that they...?" she started.

"That's it – I'm coming to get you!" Marcus shouted as he mentally increased power to the engines.

"Marcus, NO!" Steph shouted back at him. "I won't have you throwing YOUR life away to save mine! You need to activate your Nullifier and get out of this system while you have the chance, so you can warn the others what's been happening here!"

"Don't even think that way," Marcus countered. "I'm not about to run away and leave you at the mercy of these... these..."

She smiled at him in a way that melted his resolve. _No fair..._ "Marcus, I adore you – but you're not thinking clearly right now. I'll be fine, I promise. You can come back for me when..." She paused as something caught her attention in the background. She had started to turn her head when the projection erupted in a blast of white, followed by static.

"Steph? STEPH!" Marcus cried out, concern and confusion paralyzing his mind. His confusion giving way to panic, he turned his ship around and headed directly towards the second planet. His engines screamed in protest as his desperation to make sure that Steph was still alive driving him to push the ship to ever-higher velocity.

Another tingle in his head, sharper and more intense, as the computer displayed an image that made his blood run cold. The star flashed a brilliant white, then it began to grow at an impossible rate. Marcus stared numbly at the image for several minutes before realizing the horrid truth – the invaders had somehow turned the star itself into a bomb!

Refusing to accept what his instruments were telling him, he drove his ship towards the expanding shell of star-fire as he convinced himself that he could somehow still rescue Steph from the inferno that had already engulfed all four of the innermost planets. In his desperation, he failed to notice how close he drew to the invading fleets – both of which were now moving away from the exploded star so that they could safely make the jump to Lightspeed. One of the ships – bearing markings eerily similar to those that adorned his own ship, had he bothered to pay attention – fired a single missile at him as it passed.

The missile struck a glancing blow to his starboard drive-pod. Under normal circumstances, the impact would not have done any damage – but it increased the stress on the already-overloaded drive, and the resulting explosion caused several calamities to happen at the same time...

... the drive field warped, causing the ship to spin at a dangerous speed...

... the field shut down suddenly, leaving Marcus victim to the ship's momentum, unable to alter course to save himself...

... the shutdown sent a powerful feedback pulse through the ship's computer systems, along the NeuriLink device, and into Marcus' brain...

Before Marcus could react, he jerked and jumped in his seat as the powerful impulse that got through the automatic filters forced every muscle in his body to contract. His head, already injured by the charge, threw itself against the headrest hard enough that even the padding could not prevent him from being knocked out. He had just enough time to look up at the projection screen and see that the wall of burning matter which had just killed two planets was minutes away from impacting the ship.

Resigned to his fate, Marcus closed his eyes and let his consciousness slip away...


	3. Encounter

**Encounter**

In a burst of light, the Solnoid Battle Cruiser _Valkyrie_ and six support vessels warped into the remains of what they had taken to calling the Twenty-First Star System. As soon as all ships had reported a successful transit, Group Captain Maris ordered them to disperse through the system and proceed with full sensor-sweeps of their assigned sectors. Their mission was a standard rescue-and-reclamation operation – if there were any survivors or materials that could be used to help with the War effort, it was up to them to find and recover what they could. They didn't really expect to find anything - a System-Destroyer weapon, when used, doesn't leave much left to recover...

The first sign they had of the ship was the unusual energy trace it gave on the scanners. Hoping that it might be a damaged battle cruiser, they moved in to investigate – fearing that it could be a Paranoid trap, they kept a dozen missiles locked onto it.

Nearing the derelict, it became clear that neither guess was correct. "What can you tell me about it, Eyes?" Maris asked the sensor-operator on duty as she watched the ship slowly spin around its long axis.

"Difficult to say," admitted the young woman standing at the console below and to the left of the Captain. "The markings on the hull bear a striking resemblance to Solnoid identifiers, but the computer has nothing matching its silhouette from either the Paranoid or Solnoid fleet databases. The energy signature doesn't match up with any known type, either. It **could** be a Top-Secret prototype battleship, but there's no way of knowing for certain without going aboard and seeing for ourselves."

"Life signs?"

"Looks like one – but there's enough plasma radiation left over from using the System-Destroyer to make readings difficult to interpret accurately."

Maris mulled over her options for a moment, then made her decision. "Prepare a shuttle with a crew of two for close inspection and boarding. Light weapons and environment-suits only – no Struggle Suits. I want anyone found aboard that thing kept alive to answer questions."

"Aye-aye, Captain," answered her Second Officer, who quickly issued the appropriate orders.

* * *

A girl with long blue-black hair opened the door to a storage locker and donned a pair of pressure-suit leggings that she pulled from the shelf within. Her companion for this mission, a redhead slightly shorter than herself, slithered into the upper section of an identical suit. Once her head was clear of the neck-ring, she asked "So... how did things go last shift?"

The dark-haired girl shot the redhead with a steely glare, her ice-blue eyes hiding the irritation she felt. "I do **not** want to talk about it, Spea."

"That bad, huh?" Spea commented. "I really thought you two would hit it off – she seems to have a lot in common with you, you know."

"I **said** that I'm not going to talk about it!" she repeated, slightly louder.

"Come on, Shildy. I'm your best friend – I think I deserve to know what happened."

Shildy sighed and lowered her eyes to gaze at the helmet in her hands. "I don't know. It just didn't... well... feel **right**. I can't explain it."

"But..."

"Save it for later. Right now, we have a job to do – my personal life can wait until it's completed."

Ignoring the look that her friend Spea gave her, Shildy locked her helmet into place and strode towards the hangar bay.

* * *

A quick burst of thrust from the shuttle's main engines put the pair on a course to intercept the mysterious ship. They circled the vessel as it spun, examining its surface carefully.

"Where are the gun ports?" Shildy questioned. "I don't see any missile bays, either."

"The hull looks completely seamless, even under full magnification," Spea noted. "Maybe we just can't see them."

"I can't get us any closer without running the risk of collision because of the spin. I saw an open landing bay when we passed the aft section of the ship – we're not going to find out anything more unless we board, anyway."

"Is that any safer?" Spea asked. "Matching rotation **and** guiding the shuttle in to dock is a tricky thing to do – particularly when there isn't much light to work with."

Shildy gave Spea a confident smirk. "I may not know much about dating, but I **do** have a Class-A pilot's certification. Don't worry, I can handle it."

Expertly, she brought the shuttle around to the opening. A quick burst from the wing-mounted attitude jets set them rotating. Once Shildy was satisfied that their rotation precisely matched that of the other ship, she triggered a burst from the rear jets and the shuttle slid into the empty bay. Magnets built into the landing pads made contact with the deck, and the shuttle stopped moving.

Spea glanced at the new readings being displayed on the console before her. "There's gravity here, and air," she observed as she flipped the switches that would lower the boarding ramp. "It'd be less cumbersome without the suits."

Shildy shook her head. "No chances. We could still be walking into a trap." She grabbed a pulse-pistol from the weapons closet, adjusted to power setting to half-strength, turned on her suit-lights, and signalled Spea to follow her down the ramp and into the ship.

They made their way down several dark and deserted corridors, growing more confused with each passing step.

"Where's the crew?" Shildy muttered under her breath. "A ship this size should have a crew of at least fifty – we should have found bodies, at least."

"Automatics?" Spea suggested.

"We'd have found the 'bots," Shildy countered.

At that moment, the corridors brightened as the lights came on. "Either someone is making repairs," Spea whispered to Shildy, "or the ship itself is reacting to our presence. Weird, either way."

With the light, more details became apparent. "Look at this," Shildy gasped as she pointed out her discovery, "What kind of idiot puts identification markers and ship-layout diagrams on a wall? They're practically **inviting** a takeover!"

"Look at the text, though," Spea pointed out. "It looks like the Solnoid alphabet, but not quite. If this **is** one of ours, then whoever built it must be illiterate or something."

"At any rate, it helps us in our mission," Shildy admitted. She looked at the diagram for a moment, then pointed down the corridor to her left. "If I'm reading this right, the main control room is **this** way. We'll be able to access the computer from there and find out what we need to know."

Weapons at the ready, the pair made their way along the corridor until they reached a barely-open hatchway. Holstering their guns, they pulled at the door as it reluctantly slid open enough to admit them into a room with a single large window and a lone control chair. Drawing their weapons as they stepped through the opening, Shildy was the first to notice the arm hanging from the side of the chair. Motioning Spea to circle around to the other side to cover her, she placed her free hand on the seat-back – jumping clear as her touch triggered the chair to slide backwards and expose the unconscious occupant to their view as they stared in surprise...

It had the basic form of a Solnoid, but it wore a silver-grey outfit that was unlike any uniform on record. Its face, more angular and somehow rougher than that of a Solnoid, bore coarse hairs that matched the brown hair on its head – hairs that circled its lips and covered its chin. Its eyes were closed, and its jaw hung open as its head bounced when the chair stopped sliding backwards.

Shildy and Spea looked at each other for a moment, dumbfounded, until Shildy approached the creature. Loosely gripping its chin, she turned its head to get a better look at it. As she turned its head away from her, Spea noticed its eyes start to flutter – she aimed her pistol at it as Shildy backed away to do the same.

The creature opened its eyes and looked at Spea. It turned its head to look at Shildy. It stared at Shildy, its breath coming in ragged gasps, as it placed its hand on the chair and pushed itself up to stand away from the chair, its eyes locked on Shildy the whole time.

"FREEZE!" Shildy commanded, pointing her pistol between its eyes, but the creature paid no attention as it turned and took an uneasy step towards her.

"You heard the lady," Spea reinforced the command from behind it, "don't take another step!"

The creature raised a hand towards Shildy and surprised both her and Spea by speaking, in a voice that was deeper than that of any Solnoid but in a perfect Solnoid dialect...

"Steph? Oh, Steph, you're here. I thought I'd lost you."

Shildy lowered her pistol and stared at the creature in shock as she noticed the tears flowing from its eyes. Hesitantly, she took another step back as it took another step towards her...

Suddenly, its body went rigid as lightning danced around its body. It stood still for the barest of moments before its knees buckled and it collapsed to the deck, revealing to Shildy that Spea had shot it with an Immobilizer round. As she holstered the weapon, she grinned at the creature. "I **told** you not to take another step." She stepped over it and put a hand on Shildy's shoulder. "Are you okay?" she questioned, the concern evident in her voice,

Shildy blinked and shook her head. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." Holstering her own weapon, she looked down at the creature that Spea had stunned.

"Help me get this thing back to the shuttle," she said as she knelt to lift the creature to its feet, "We'll be able to figure out exactly what it is once we get it on board the _Valkyrie_."

Nodding in agreement, Spea pulled its other arm around her neck as they dragged the inert form back to their shuttle.


	4. Examination

**Examination**

With the mysterious ship securely contained by a mooring beam, the strange creature that turned out to be the sole occupant had been brought back to the _Valkyrie_ and was now lying on a table in a sealed room while instruments scanned its body. In the adjoining room, Spea typed instructions to control the scanners while Shildy stood by silently and considered her actions.

 _What's wrong with me?_ Shildy thought as she watched the machines slowly perform their function. _I've never hesitated in a combat situation before – so why did it happen_ _ **now**_ _?_

The console in front of Spea beeped for attention, snapping Shildy back to reality as they both looked at the information being displayed for them.

"It's Solnoid, all right." Spea stated as Shildy looked over her shoulder. "The computer is giving it a ninety-nine-percent match, even the DNA comparison is almost perfectly identical."

"But... how is that possible?" Shildy wondered aloud. "It might share our basic shape, but there's never been a Solnoid that looked like that."

"That's not the only confusing thing about it," Spea noted as she pointed to an internal scan of the creature's chest. "See this spot here, just below the upper tip of the sterna where the ribs meet? A Solnoid would have her datatag implanted there – it's missing. And here," adjusting the image to center on the head. "There are nano-scale fibres woven throughout the brain, but their purpose is a complete mystery. There's nothing like that on record – experimental or otherwise. Its overall appearance can be accounted for by the odd layout some of the chromosomes have... even that weird-looking growth between its legs. But the differences in technology can't be ignored like that – whatever this thing is, it's definitely **not** a Solnoid... but at the same time, it **is**."

"This is getting weirder by the minute," Shildy muttered softly. "A ship with Solnoid markings that looks like it wasn't built for combat, piloted by a creature that is unlike any Solnoid in history, yet it not only speaks our language but closely matches us genetically?" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't like it – there's too many coincidences here."

"You're thinking spy?" Spea suggested.

"Or worse," Shildy corrected. "Either way - it'll need to answer questions, but we can't let it have the run of the ship when it wakes up. How long will it take to get the Quarantine section online?"

Spea typed a few more commands into the console, giving Shildy the answer as it popped onto the screen. "Thirty minutes, give or take a few. I've already started the process."

"Good," Shildy noted her approval. "Have the creature transferred there as soon as it's ready. Full monitoring, but no contact without my express approval. I'm going to give the Captain an update of the situation, find me and let me know when the transfer is done."

"Will do," Spea said as Shildy left the room. The door closed swiftly behind her, leaving Spea to turn back to the creature in the next room and mutter "Just what **are** you?"

* * *

Her meeting with the Captain didn't take as long as Shildy expected. A few questions answered, a commendation for her thoroughness, and she had been dismissed. Finding herself with some unexpected free time - she wandered the corridors, oblivious to the greetings of her shipmates, lost in thought.

 _Could that thing have the power to affect the mind?_ She wondered, thinking back to the events that took place on the enigmatic ship. _If so, why didn't it seem to affect Spea the way it did me? She didn't hesitate – why did I?_

Her absent-minded stroll soon took her to the door of the shooting range. Curious to test her suspicions, she went in and selected a pistol with several reloads for a reaction-time-assessment session. When the signal told her that the timer had started, she made her way through the maze while scanning her path for threats. By the time she had emptied her magazines, she had shot each 'dangerous' target at least twice in the designated 'kill' areas, and had avoided shooting any of the 'friendly' silhouettes – earning her a score of ninety-eight percent.

"Figured I'd find you here," a voice called out from behind her. Shildy turned to see Spea grinning at her. "Impressive score."

"Thanks," Shildy replied as she placed her weapon back into its slot in the storage rack. "You're here with an update, I'm guessing?"

"Exactly right. The Quarantine room is online, and the prisoner has been moved there. It's resting comfortably."

"How long do you think it will be until it can answer questions?"

"Well... between the Immobilizer I hit it with, plus its own dehydration and exhaustion, I figure it'll be lights-out for at least two shifts."

"That's fine," Shildy noted as she added her signature to the logbook. Looking up, she uttered a non-committal "What?" when she saw how Spea was grinning at her.

"Since you have some free time," Spea began, "Sergeant Darla from Ordnance has been asking about you – this would be a good opportunity for you to spend some time with her, get to know her better."

"I don't know why you keep doing this to me," Shildy said with an exasperated sigh. "It never works out the way you expect. What makes you think this time will be any different from the hundred-odd others you've set me up with?"

"To tell you the truth," Spea answered without losing her grin, "I don't. But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up. After all..." she paused and gave Shildy a wink, "you never know until you try, right?"

Another sigh, followed by a shake of her head, and Shildy accepted her defeat. "All right, all right," she conceded, groaning inwardly at the prospect, "I'll talk to her. Just **promise** me that this will be the last time?"

"No promises," Spea admitted with a snicker, "I'll get you out of that shell of yours one of these days – it's just a question of finding the right one for the task." Noticing Shildy's angry glare, she hastily added "But I'll keep it to a bare minimum."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Shildy half-threatened, rolling her eyes for effect.

* * *

Three hours later, Shildy stepped into her quarters and leaned back against the door when it slid closed behind her. As she had expected, her 'date' had ended in disappointment for both herself and Darla – who had been understanding enough to not make a fuss when Shildy chose to leave early.

 _What's wrong with me?_ \- Shildy thought to herself. _Why can't I seem to develop any kind of interest in anyone who expresses an interest in_ _ **me**_ _? No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to make it work._

After loosening her belt and throwing it casually onto the floor, she followed suit with her tunic – pulling it over her head and causing her blue-black locks to cascade over her shoulders. She then pulled off her boots and slid her slacks down to her ankles - stepping out of them as she sat on the side of her bunk and, slumping down to rest her arms on her thighs and stare at the floor, recalled her disturbing encounter aboard the alien craft.

 _My reflexes are still good_ , she pondered as she thought back to her session in the training hall, _so it has to be something about that creature that made me reluctant to shoot it. What could it be? The grief-stricken tone of its voice? The look of sorrow in its eyes? Would that_ _ **really**_ _be enough to stop me?_

Lifting her head, she stood up and walked over to her work-station desk. Dropping herself into the chair, she typed a series of commands into her terminal that caused an array of images to be displayed on the monitor in front of her – images of the Quarantine room where the thing she considered to be her prisoner slept. As the images cycled through the different camera angles, giving her an all-around view of the room and its occupant, she found the same discomforting feelings welling up from within her. The longer she looked at it, the more powerful these feelings became. Feelings that she could neither identify nor understand, but still thought they were somehow... familiar, instinctive, _primal_.

 _Even the simple act of_ _ **looking**_ _at it makes me feel strange,_ Shildy admitted silently. _Strange and... somehow..._ _ **nice**_ _?_

She dismissed those thoughts with a shake of her head. _**NO!**_ _I can't let it get to me! I_ _ **won't**_ _! I'm a soldier, and I'll do what I was trained to do! I'll find out what that thing is, and what it's doing here, and that will be the_ _ **end**_ _of it! I'll do my duty, to ensure the survival of my people!_

Sliding into her bunk and pulling the covers to her neck, Shildy rolled over to face the wall as she tried to put the day behind her by drifting off to sleep.

Only to be met by some very disturbing dreams...


	5. Awakening

**Awakening**

Marcus slowly fought his way back to consciousness – struggling through nightmarish memories combined with feelings of loss, surprise, and pain.

 _He saw the expanse of star-fire relentlessly engulf the greening world he had begun to think of as his home. He watched, helpless, as the work of decades instantly transformed into charred and molten debris – the carefully-balanced atmosphere blown away in an instant. He saw Steph, in her last moments, looking up in shock and horror as the burning wall touched her and she became nothing more than a cloud of rapidly-dispersing atoms. Straining for her hand, he screamed soundlessly as the fire reached his own fingers – instantly incinerating whatever it touched as it began to consume his body..._

 _Blinking, he found himself on the main deck of his ship - standing face-to-face with Steph... but it wasn't the Steph that he knew. She pointed a weapon at him, her face curiously unreadable and harsh. He reached out to her, only to once again writhe and scream in agony as something struck him to send a wave of paralyzing electricity surging through his body. As he collapsed, he looked up to see her aim her weapon at his head before pulling the trigger..._

"AAAAAA!" He cried out as his eyes shot open and he pushed himself up, his breath coming in ragged gasps as his racing heart echoed his terror. Taking several slow and deep breaths to calm himself down, he began to examine his surroundings. Glancing down, he surprised himself with the discovery that he was sitting on some kind of table with a large fabric sheet draped over his legs and hips. He was certain that he wasn't aboard his own ship anymore – he could _feel_ the differences that weren't visible. He couldn't explain to himself why, but the vibration of the ship itself felt... somehow... **wrong**.

A metallic click compelled Marcus to lie down and covertly watch as the door opened with an electric hum to admit a young girl carrying a bundle of something in her arms. She walked over to a table by the wall and placed the bundle on it, either oblivious to Marcus' presence or assuming that he was still unconscious. As she checked what seemed to be a computer monitor, he silently pondered her appearance – she looked to be about ten years old, her dirty blonde hair pulled back into a shoulder-length ponytail. Her clothing was oddly dull – simply a grey wrap-around tunic-and-belt with slightly lighter loose-fitting slacks. She tapped a few keys on the console before turning and walking towards the door. She was about to press the button that Marcus presumed would open the door when he decided to take a chance.

"Where am I...?" he remarked.

The girl jumped at the sound of his voice, her green eyes reflecting surprise behind her red-rimmed glasses as she turned to face him. "Oh! You... you're awake?" she exclaimed. "You weren't expected to recover so quickly." She looked at him with a combination of confusion and concern. "How... how are you feeling?" she asked, a quiver in her voice emphasizing her nervousness.

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Marcus swung his legs off the edge of the table and slid off the edge – stretching his arms above his head as the sheet covering him fell to the floor. "All things considered, I seem to be doing quite well. Your timely appearance probably saved my life, so thank you. I..." He interrupted his statement when he noticed that the youth was trying to both stare at him and avert her eyes at the same time, surprise and confusion evident on her face. Looking down at himself, he realized the source of her distress. Grabbing the sheet that had dropped to the floor, he wrapped it around his waist and tied a knot to prevent it from falling off. "I apologize for embarrassing you," he said with a smile as the girl let out the breath she had been holding, "Perhaps you could tell me where my clothes are?"

"Oh! Oh, right! The uniform you were wearing was damaged, so I brought you a new one." She pointed at the table where the bundle Marcus had noticed her carrying in lay.

With a slight frown, Marcus considered he had just been told. _My outfit is self-repairing_ , he thought, _there's no way it would need to be replaced. How could they not know this? Either this girl is lying to me, or someone else lied to her._ Deciding that this was a problem we would deal with later, he walked over to the table and opened the bundle. Lifting each item of clothing for inspection, turned his head to the girl and raised his eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?" he muttered skeptically, "I'm pretty sure this won't fit me properly – the proportions are wrong."

"I'm sorry," the girl admitted, "but it's the closest thing that the Quartermaster had. There should be enough stretch in the material for it to fit you."

Realizing he didn't have much choice in the matter, Marcus grinned at the girl. "All right," he said, "I'll try them on. But I have to tell you, they're not really suited to my taste at all." Ignoring the look of bewilderment the girl gave him, he added "You may want to turn around while I get changed – wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable again."

"I wasn't uncomfortable!" the girl exclaimed as she stomped her foot on the floor-plate before spinning on her heel so she was facing away from him, "It's just that you're so... so... **different**! I've never seen anything like you before!"

 _Something else to add to the list of puzzles_ , Marcus thought as he pulled the slacks to his waist and felt the material lightly press against his skin, _how can she not have been exposed to... wait – why did she use the word 'any **thing** '? Something is **seriously** wrong with this situation, and I have to figure out what it is._ Setting those thoughts aside, he finished dressing by fastening the belt at his waist and pulling the boots onto his feet. He looked down at himself and considered his appearance.

The boots and slacks were a light grey in colour – very much like what he would normally wear, although tighter and more form-fitting than he preferred. The tunic was black with red trim, and a stiff grey-white band crossed his chest at a point slightly below his throat. The sleeves were rolled up and held in place by a strap that fastened at his shoulders. The shoulders themselves were adorned with strange red padding that almost made him feel as though he was constantly shrugging. Uncomfortable, but unwilling to refuse the generosity of his hosts, he pulled down the edge of the tunic and said to the girl, "Okay, how do I look?"

The girl turned around and smiled at him brightly. "Very nice!" she exclaimed with a smile, "just like an officer ready to lead her troops into battle!"

Blinking in surprise at how she worded her statement, Marcus responded with a smile. "Thank you," he offered, "although most of the people where I come from wouldn't exactly consider that to be a compliment."

The girl widened her eyes, apparently shocked at his admission. "What do you mean, 'where you come from'? Aren't you..."

"AMY!"

The sudden outburst caused the girl to cringe, while Marcus turned to the new voice. His eyes widened as he recognized her – the angry version of Steph from his nightmare hallucination.

Ignoring Marcus, the newcomer glared at the nervous child as she strode into the room while the door closed behind her with a hum and a click. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Ummm..." the girl, whom Marcus presumed was named 'Amy', tried to stammer out an answer. "Its uniform was gone. I just thought..."

"You violated protocol and broke Quarantine," the intruder said angrily. She then shook her head once before continuing. "I'll deal with you later – you're dismissed."

"Yes ma'am!" Amy answered quickly as she stood stiffly and placed the balled fist of her right hand over her chest. "I'm sorry, ma'am!" she added as she ran to the door and left the room.

As the door slid closed, Marcus stared at the woman before him, confusion evident in his expression. "Was that really necessary?" he asked, "She was only..."

"Be quiet!" she barked, cutting him off. "I ask the questions here, not you! You're a prisoner here - and if you don't provide me with satisfactory answers, I will toss you out the airlock with the rest of the trash! Do I make myself clear?"

"Clear as crystal," Marcus answered, while thinking to himself.

 _What have I gotten myself into...?_


	6. Interrogation

**Interrogation**

Shildy kept her eyes locked on the creature standing in front of her while Amy ran out of the room. Once she heard the door slide closed, she reached towards the wall behind her and tapped a key on the keypad she felt, locking the door.

The thing she had come to question looked at her with a hint of confusion in its eyes, and said "Was that really necessary? She was only trying to..."

"Be quiet!" she said, cutting it off abruptly. She was in no mood for backtalk. "I ask the questions here, not you! You're a prisoner here - and if you don't provide me with satisfactory answers, I will toss you out the airlock with the rest of the trash! Do I make myself clear?"

The creature gave her a look that she couldn't read. It wasn't fear – confusion, perhaps? Or maybe defeat? Whatever it was feeling, it sighed and merely said "As crystal" in response.

 _Good_ , she thought, _maybe now I'll be able to figure out why it affects me so..._

* * *

 _Hours earlier, in the darkness and quiet of her quarters, Shildy had been dreaming..._

 _She saw herself floating among the stars – wearing her uniform rather than a pressure-suit. Soundlessly gliding past icy comets and rocky moons, she soon approached a world that appeared to be blue-green and living. Drawn ever-closer, she found herself slicing through layer after layer of cloud until she saw the ground below. Thinking that she was falling, she squeezed her eyes closed and brought her arms up to cross before her face protectively..._

 _The next moment, she felt the ground beneath her feet. Lowering her arms, she opened her eyes so that she could get her bearings. She found herself in the middle of what appeared to be a typical Solnoid city street, with people, 'bots, and vehicles going about their business all around her. The normality of the scene was disrupted, however, by her realization that almost half of the people the was surrounded by looked like the creature she had found on the drifting ship. Suddenly wary, she looked around frantically for a path to escape – only to find none..._

 _The crowd parted, and she saw the creature she thought of as her prisoner standing about ten matras away. It began walking towards her, smiling as it held its hand out in her direction. For some reason, Shildy felt compelled to extend her own hand – reaching out to it._

 _Their hands touched, and the city street vanished. They were alone in a forest, beside a narrow river with a waterfall behind them. Shildy gazed at the creature standing before her, and realized that its clothing had disappeared. Shocked, she looked down at herself and discovered that her uniform was also gone. Finding herself naked before it, she closed her eyes and lowered her head as her face grew warmer. She felt a finger being hooked under her chin, which then gently lifted her head. Opening her eyes, she stared at the creature as it smiled at her._

" _What are you?" she asked, but the only answer it gave was to remove its hand from her face and slide it towards her back in a soft embrace._

 _No longer afraid, Shildy wrapped her own arms around the thing holding her. She closed her eyes again, this time with a smile on her face. She rested her head on its shoulder and sighed quietly, discovering that she felt as though she actually_ _ **belonged**_ _there..._

* * *

Dismissing the memory with a shake of her head, Shildy hardened her stare. "Now then," she began, "you can start by explaining your appearance."

Seeming surprised by the comment, the creature looked down at itself before responding. "What about my appearance?" it asked. "I know this isn't a particularly tidy outfit, but my shipsuit seems to have been stolen. If you..."

"No games!" Shildy snapped, interrupting the thing's answer. "You were recovered from a ship that outwardly resembles a Solnoid cruiser, but is unlike any cruiser known! Your body is shaped like ours, but certain organs are different, misplaced, or completely missing! Even your DNA is different enough to raise suspicion!"

She pointed a finger at it. "You're a spy, aren't you? Admit it! You were constructed by our enemy to look like us, put on a ship in a battlefield location that they **knew** we would investigate, and now you're either going to report on our plans or sabotage us somehow! Tell me!"

The creature, clearly irritated, snapped back at her. "Listen, lady, I don't know what you're talking about! For your information – I was trying to **save** lives! My convoy was destroyed when two groups of ships materialized and just started **shooting** at each other! We got caught in the crossfire, and had to run or be destroyed! I'm the only survivor! And then... and then..." It stopped yelling at her for a moment, its eyes squeezed tightly shut. Shildy was about to continue her questioning when it gasped and opened its eyes to glare at her. "It was **YOU** that did this, wasn't it? Yours was one of the groups who invaded this system! The monsters who thought nothing of blowing up a **STAR**?" It lunged forward and grabbed her by the arms. Wide-eyed, she stared at it as she saw tears form at the edges of its rage-filled eyes. "Do you realize what you've **DONE**? There were two **million** people living on the third planet – another half million on the fourth! And you murdered them all! Doesn't that **matter** to you? Don't you **CARE**?"

Shildy found herself immobilized by those words. "I... I..." she started, but found that she couldn't complete the thought. The creature closed its eyes and released her with a sigh. Turning its back to her, it said quietly "I won't answer any more questions. I suggest you leave, before I do something we'll both regret."

Confusion getting the better of her, Shildy continued to stare at the creature as it took two steps towards the window before collapsing to its knees and lowering its head. She quietly stepped back until she felt herself against the door. Pressing the button that deactivated the lock, she left the room without saying another word.

* * *

Hearing the door slide closed, Marcus glanced back at the door that his love's doppelganger had exited by, tears threatening to flow unrestricted at what he'd just realized.

"I'm sorry, Steph," he muttered, "I know what I have to do, but I just don't know if I can. I wish you were here – I could really use your advice right about now. I miss you."

He turned his head to look at the window before him. Centred in the starfield was his ship, still held in tow by his captors.

"I need more time..."

* * *

As soon as the door slid closed before her, Shildy pressed the keys that engaged the locking mechanism. The creature would **not** get out now.

She looked to her left, then to her right. When she knew that the corridor was empty, she leaned back against the door and allowed a heavy sigh to escape. _I could have knocked that thing to the floor when it grabbed me_ , she thought. _I_ _ **should**_ _have! Why didn't I?_

 _It's happening again_ , she thought. _Somehow, that thing is affecting my judgment._ _How? Why?_ She recalled what took place moments ago, when the creature began its outburst...

" _You thought nothing of blowing up a STAR!"_ it had exclaimed.

" _Do you realize what you've DONE?_ "

 _Two and a half million people_ , it had said... _"And you murdered them ALL!_ "

At any other time, she would have dismissed those deaths as necessary losses in order to win the battle. This time. she remembered the grief and shock on its face.

" _Doesn't it MATTER to you? Don't you CARE?_ "

For the first time in her life, Shildy was unsure of what she was supposed to do. All of her training told her one thing, but her brief encounters with this one prisoner was causing her to question her entire life.

She looked at the door, her mind torn.

"I need time..."


End file.
